Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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A lonely and friendless boy finds and untangles a hurt dolphin that is caught in a crab trap. He becomes very attached to the dolphin when the tail must be taken off to save the dolphin's life. The boy believes the dolphin would be able to swim normally if it was given a prosthetic tail.

Bei einem Spaziergang am Strand findet der Junge Sawyer eines Tages ein schwer verletztes Delfinweibchen. Das Tier war zuvor in eine Krebsreuse geraten, wobei die Schwanzflosse derart verwundet wurde, dass ein Uberleben des Tiers kaum noch moglich scheint. Doch durch den unglaublichen Einsatz eines Meeresbiologen, eines Spezialisten fur Prothesen, und Sawyers tiefer Zuneigung wird das Unmogliche moglich: "Winter", wie der Junge seinen animalischen Freund mittlerweile getauft hat, kommt langsam wieder zu Kraften.

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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Although I'm sure the script all but named itself, Dolphin Tale isn't the story of a dolphin named Winter or the rough waters she endured to adjust to life with a prosthetic tale. No, Dolphin Tale is a decidedly human tale; and, even then, one very loosely based on the events that inspired it. There were no children mulling over how to help dear Winter after she washed ashore in 2005 (or, rather, found herself trapped in a lagoon), no special bonds developed between boy and dolphin, and no emerging or mounting crises to contend with financial, meteorological or otherwise beyond designing a device to save a creature in need. Needless to say, Dolphin Tale isn't just a human tale, it's a bit of a fairy tale too. Still, it's tough to fault screenwriters Karen Janszen and Noam Dromi for embellishing the truth and indulging in cinematic convention.

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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Every film needs a hook, family films especially, and the story of boy meets dolphin is an oldie but a goodie. (As good as any, I suppose.) This time around, the young man in question is Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble, The Dark Knight's little Lieutenant James Gordon Jr.), a bullied, broodish boy who, you guessed it, finds happiness and purpose while rallying adults to his side to do the impossible: giving a tailless dolphin a second chance.

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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The adults, of course, are skeptical doubters and dream-crushers initially intent on teaching poor, naive Sawyer that life's tough, and not much more as adults in these films always seem to be. We're introduced to the boy's shortsighted but well-intentioned mom (Ashley Judd), a marine biologist (Harry Connick Jr.) who isn't so optimistic about Winter's chances, a young girl (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) who wins Sawyer's friendship (and really his heart), a devoted prosthetics whiz (Morgan Freeman) who takes a leap of faith to help Sawyer, and a cadre of familiar family-film archetypes who slowly reconnect with their shattered hopes and dreams as Sawyer teaches them anything can be accomplished if you believe it's possible and work hard enough to make it happen. And so it's up to Sawyer to teach them the ways of the world. Do you taste a hint of cynicism in the air? Sorry, that's mine, and I'm actively trying to suppress it.

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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It turns out I learned a little something on my way through Dolphin Tale. As predictable as it is, as telegraphed as every move it makes can be, it's too easy to dismiss the kind of kid-friendly, moral-packing genre pic Hollywood tosses out like candy each year. Seasoned moviegoers may see it for what it is, yet another variation on a popular family film, but children aren't so jaded. While I was grumbling about the lack of originality and honesty in Dolphin Tale, my son was swept up in Sawyer's plight, his mother's struggles, Dr. Haskett and Dr. McCarthy's quick thinking and ultimate successes, and Winter's unwavering will to live. My thirty-plus years have begun to take a toll on my ability to enjoy a film on its own terms. But my son? It's all new and wondrous to him. He laughed, he cried, he did everything Dolphin Tale would have him do, and he wants to do it all again.

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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What drew him in so deeply? If you said Winter, you only get partial credit. Winter earns plenty of screentime, and rightfully so, but it's Gamble who shoulders the bulk of the film's burdens and steps out as its most winsome asset. No small feat for such a young actor taking on such a long-established standard. He not only sells every line that comes out of his mouth and every tear that streams down his cheeks, he wears his heart on his proverbial sleeve, and it goes a long way. Flanked by the likes of Judd, Connick, Freeman, Kris Kristofferson and Frances Sternhagen (most of whom almost keep their heads above the melodrama maelstrom), Gamble runs circles around many of his Hollywood peers and reminds me of a certain once-young, now-A-list actor who also forged an early career friendship with a dolphin.

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Dolphin Tale / Mein Freund, der Delfin (2011)

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The story too sterile as it can be amidst all the sappiness, excruciatingly contrived as its Save Winter Day third act is doesn't push or pull too hard. Oh, it's manipulative. It yanks heart strings as if there were a mini-marine biologist marionette on the other end. But it doesn't get ahead of itself or lose sight of its message. Dolphin Tale is an extremely focused tale and, if nothing else, Janszen, Dromi and director (and veteran character actor) Charles Martin Smith have trimmed the fat from what could have been an unwieldy leviathan of an ensemble drama. It's a touch ordinary and a ton schmaltzy, sure, but it's ordinary and schmaltzy done well, and primed for mass consumption. And yes, chances are you'll come away shrugging your shoulders. But your kids? Your kids will probably have an entirely different movie-watching experience.

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